
THE NEW GODS | Alejandro Garcia Contreras + Josée Pedneault
May 7–June 14, 2015
TYPOLOGY is thrilled to present a Featured Exhibition of the 2015 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, THE NEW GODS, a cross-continental collaboration between Canadian artist Josée Pedneault (Montreal) and Mexican artist Alejandro Garcia Contreras (Mexico City). Featuring an extraordinary series of large-scale photographs, this project examines fantastical rites of spring that have emerged spontaneously within Carrillo Puerto, an isolated village in the mountains of Chiapas in southern Mexico. The exhibition will also include a select grouping of smaller sculptures and paintings as an extension of the photographic subject matter into other media, an experimental approach which is integral to this multidisciplinary collaboration.
Each spring for the past several years, Carrillo Puerto has undertaken a most unusual interpretation of the Via Crucis (Stations of the Cross), the religious tradition of reenacting the events leading up to Christ’s death on Good Friday. Elsewhere in Mexico it is a day of organized procession, penitence, and mourning, but in this small village it has evolved into an irreverent, chaotic, and carnivalesque celebration of the absurd. Drawing on an unholy mix of religious beliefs, local and popular culture, pagan traditions, and personal mythologies, participants don homemade costumes that are highly theatrical and transformative, often verging on pure abstraction. Through the adoption of new voices, gaits, and gestures as well, the chimerical personalities they assume become an alternate pantheon of strange deities and demons, existing in opposition to the highly codified characters and narratives of the traditional Passion play.
THE NEW GODS will be the first exhibition to feature the collaborative work of Alejandro Garcia Contreras and Josée Pedneault in Canada, and is Garcia Contreras’ first show in Toronto.
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Public opening reception: Thursday, May 7th from 6–8 pm
TYPOLOGY Projects
No. 302, Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Toronto, ON M6J 2W5
See Google map of location
Join us for an opening reception with the artists, who will be traveling from Montreal and Mexico to be with us. Refreshments will be served and all are welcome!
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Alejandro Garcia Contreras holds a Bachelor’s degree in visual art from the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes in Mexico City. Since 2007 he has exhibited in the United States, Europe, Japan, and Peru. Venues in Mexico include the Museum of Modern Art, Centro Nacional de las Artes, and Museo Experimental “El Eco” in Mexico City; Museo de los Pintores Oaxaqueños (Oaxaca); and Centro Cultural Jaime Sabines in Tuxtla Gutierrez Chiapas. In 2008 Contreras co-founded the Laboratorio de Artes de Chiapas and in 2009 he joined Neter, an initiative promoting young Mexican artists locally and internationally. In 2013, he completed a residency/workshop program at Les Territoires in Montreal. Contreras has received awards from Artfest International (2006) and the FONCA Jovenes Creadores (2009, 2014).
Josée Pedneault holds an honours MFA in studio art from Concordia University, and since 2005 her photographs and installations have been shown in exhibitions and festivals in Canada, France, Poland, China, Cambodia and Luxembourg. In 2007 Pedneault received the People’s Choice Award at Le Mois de la photo in Montreal, and her work was included in a group exhibition in the Canadian Pavillion at the 2010 World’s Fair, Shanghai. Pedneault is co-founder and board president of Les Territoires, a non-profit organization that provides opportunities to emerging artists and curators. She also teaches photography at Concordia University.
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This exhibition is made possible by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Fondo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes (FONCA) of the National Council for Culture and the Arts of Mexico.
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image: Josée Pedneault and Alejandro Garcia Contreras, from The New Gods series, 2013–2014
Events
Please join us for the following exhibiton-related events. Click below for more info.
Opening Reception and Edition Launch : Thursday, May 7, 2015 / 6–8 pm
Please join us for the opening of THE NEW GODS, a Featured Exhibition of the 2015 Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival.
THE NEW GODS is a cross-continental collaboration between Canadian artist Josée Pedneault (Montreal) and Mexican artist Alejandro Garcia Contreras (Mexico City). Featuring an extraordinary series of large-scale photographs, this project examines fantastical rites of spring that have emerged spontaneously within Carrillo Puerto, an isolated village in the mountains of Chiapas in southern Mexico. The exhibition will also include a select grouping of smaller sculptures and paintings as an extension of the photographic subject matter into other media, an experimental approach which is integral to this multidisciplinary collaboration.
The artists will be in attendance and all are welcome.
Reception date and time
Thursday, May 7, 2015 from 6–8 pm
Event location
TYPOLOGY Projects
No. 302, Artscape Youngplace, 180 Shaw Street, Toronto, ON M6J 2W5
See Google map of location
We look forward to seeing you!
HEAD TRIP! Fantastical Masks, Helmets & More with Paddy Leung : Saturday, May 23, 2015 / 2 pm
A Two-Part Workshop on Wednesday, May 20th and Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 (come to either or both!)
TYPOLOGY and Paperhouse invite you to join multitalented arts impresario, Paddy Leung, for a two-part mask and helmet workshop, culminating in a procession and party in Trinity Bellwoods Park. Taking inspiration from the handcrafted costumes featured in TYPOLOGY’s current exhibition, THE NEW GODS, we’ll fashion all manner of fantastical headgear to express our inner superheroes, demons, angels, …or anything!
PART 1: MASKS at PAPERHOUSE
Wednesday, May 20th from 5–9 pm
Get a “head start” on your alter ego using beautiful handmade papers to make a unique and amazing mask. Drop in any time between 5 and 9 to experiment, explore and play with mask-making techniques and ideas. Paperhouse will also provide all kinds of crafting and decorative materials including ribbons, wash tape, colour pencils, markers, paints, and so much more!
PART 2: HATS, CROWNS & HELMETS at TYPOLOGY
Saturday, May 23rd from 2–5 pm (part of Doors Open Toronto at Artscape Youngplace)
Top it all off with a magical hat or monumental helmet crafted from unusual and unexpected materials. Coinciding with Doors Open Toronto, this workshop will take place in the third floor hallway outside TYPOLOGY. Brief tours of the exhibition will be offered on the half hour to introduce participants to the amazing works on view by Montreal-based artist Josée Pedneault and Mexico City-based artist Alejandro Garcia Contreras. At 5 pm, we’ll head to Trinity Bellwoods Park for an informal parade where you can dance, sing, tell stories and fully become your character! Drop in anytime between 2 and 5 pm — the earlier the better for the best hat or helmet possibilities!
JOIN US for either or both events, which are PWYC and appropriate for all ages (we will use scissors and hot glue so caregivers must stay to assist kids, suggested age 5 and up). Materials will be provided, but feel free to bring your own hats, bike helmets, or other headwear to customize if you like!
Please RSVP to info (at) typology (dot) ca with the number attending, or via our Facebook event page
Locations
Both Paperhouse (#102) and TYPOLOGY (#302) are at Artscape Youngplace
180 Shaw Street, Toronto, Ontario M6J 2W5
See Google map of location
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